Sons of Phobos
'Sons of Phobos' '' Purpose: To seek power and knowledge, especially of Kindred and their blood sorcery. ''Doctrine: ''Legend says the Sons of Phobos are descended from the mage victims of vampires, guided by the Strix. They possess the avarice of mages and the hunger of vampires. They feed only rarely, but in the most gruesome fashion. Doing so, however, grants them eternal youth. ''Membership: ''The Sons of Phobos are almost exclusively human. Very occasionally a ghoul is a member, but that only happens when an existing member is ghouled - ghouls are never initiated. New members must be initiated by an existing member, which keeps the Sons of Phobos exclusive. The lure of immortality is enough to attract many prospects, despite any initial distaste over the methods of attaining it. 'Benefits' • Once initiated, a Son of Phobos is immortal so long as they have Vitae in their system. Unlike ghouls, they resume aging normally without Vitae. In addition to the roleplayed aspect of not aging, Sons of Phobos can spend Vitae to heal wounds or augment physical dice pools, using the same rules as vampires. They can hold a maximum amount of Vitae equal to (10 + Stamina) at a time, but can only ever spend one Vitae per turn. Should a vampire feed on a Son of Phobos, she first drains Vitae directly from the victim's Vitae pool. Only when the Vitae pool is empty does she begin to deal lethal damage to the victim as normal. •• The Son learns a new use for his stolen Vitae, and may cast the Rigor Mortis ritual. The dice pool for this ritual is Resolve + Occult, and the caster may enhance the ritual's effect with the normal rules for ritual factors in blood sorcery. ••• The Son may cast the One Hundred Needles ritual, summoning a swarm of insects to sting and poison the target. •••• The Son may cast the Thorned Snare ritual, binding a target with lethally-thorned vines. ••••• The Son may cast the Miasma ritual, blanketing the area with disease-laden mist. 'New Ritual: Stolen Hearts' : '''Dice Pool:' Resolve + Occult : Action: 'Extended (each roll represents 15 minutes of butchery, 5 successes required). Unlike most extended actions, the heart-stealing ritual is limited to a number of rolls equal to the victim's Stamina rather than the character's base dice pool. If the target successes are not acquired by then, the victim dies. : '''Dramatic Failure: '''The ritual is irreparably botched; the victim dies, and no Vitae is acquired. : '''Failure: '''No progress is made toward completing the ritual. : '''Successes: '''The ritual proceeds apace. Once the required successes are accumulated, the character successfully removes and consumes his victim's heart. Actually choking the heart down requires a successful Stamina + Composure roll, with the number of successes dictating the number of points of Vitae the character gains. : '''Exceptional Success: '''The ritual is completed successfully, and the Son of Phobos gains a number of points of Vitae equal to his Stamina + Composure rather than rolling. Additionally, the thrall created by the ritual does not roll for unconsciousness until his Health track is filled with lethal damage, suffers no wound penalties at all, and takes a -3 on all perception checks. : '''Suggested Modifiers: '''Target is unconscious (-2); target is not securely bound and stationary (-2); ritual is performed in a makeshift location that hasn't been properly prepared or sanctified (-1); ritual is performed with grand ceremonial appointments (+1 per point of Resources expended on components and sacraments); victim is blood-bound to a vampire (+2); victim is a ghoul with Vitae currently in his system (+3). : Within moments of the removal and consumption of the heart, the victim's wounds close, leaving no sign but a faint, red scar that follows the line of the breastbone. The victim continues to live, with all biological functions proceeding as normal even without a heart. They are mindless puppets, able only to respond to simple orders. Left to their own devices they will simply stand in one place until they expire from dehydration or exposure. The thrall responds to orders from its master, however, and once it is given those orders it follows them through without hesitation or deterrence. These thralls have an effective score of 0 in all Mental and Social Attributes and Skills, with the exception of Resolve and Composure, which are effectively rated at 5. Thralls do not suffer wound penalties from bashing damage, as pain simply does not register to them. : The Sons of Phobos believe a ritualist can only retain control of a thrall while he holds some of that thrall's Vitae in his system. When Vitae stores start to dwindle these thralls are inevitably killed before they can turn against their creators. : Vitae consumed in this way is not delicious like Kindred Vitae. Nevertheless, the rush of stolen Vitae and the thrill of bending the laws of reality to one's will are addictive. Sons of Phobos roll once for addiction each time they consume a heart, and, if addicted, gain the Deprived Condition when they have no Vitae in their systems. : This ritual also initiates new Sons of Phobos into the cult. It is performed by an existing member, with the initiate consuming the heart. Thereafter, the new member instinctively knows how the ritual is performed. 'Source Blood Sorcery, pp 55-58. Category:Mystery Cults Category:Sons of Phobos Category:Rituals Category:Translations Category:Cults